Mario Ochoa is the co-owner and Chief Strategic Officer for Sammis & Ochoa , a San Antonio-based public relations agency. A lifelong Alamo City resident, Mario specializes in strategic planning, media relations, copywriting and looking at the glass half-full.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

Why Non-Profit PR is Beneficial

Hello San Antonio! Jennifer Flores, also known as Jenny, is another one of our interns who has been with us for a little over a month now. She is a student at San Antonio College and is perusing her degree in public relations. She has a passion for PR and helping those in need. Here she shares with us her thoughts on non-profit PR. Enjoy! -Mario

In today’s society it is difficult to get a job right out of college because many companies require experience. A good way to gain that experience is to do internships while in college. Although, having internships may not always happen for everyone. If a person is out of college and needs experience in the PR field, doing public relations for a non-profit organization is great way to gain the experience.

My professor from Intro to Public Relations once told me that before she landed her first job she did years of work volunteering for organizations and still does so today. Also, I was once told by a PR director that she volunteered for years doing PR for the local YMCA to help build her resume.

Non-profit organizations are everywhere and are always willing to take the extra help. The pay may be very little or nothing at all but one must remember they are trying to gain experience. In later years when applying with a bigger company seeing that you have experience will be very beneficial. Working with non-profit organizations is very rewarding for a person because as one is learning you are also helping others in that organization and in your community.

When choosing a non-profit organization be sure that it is something that interest you. For example, something that is close to my heart is Cystic Fibrosis so I would contact The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There are many organizations that need volunteers and will not turn down the free help. For a comprehensive look at non-profits in San Antonio visit http://sanantonio.citysearch.com/listings/san-antonio/non-profit_organizations/72110_602